The internet allows a lot of people to communicate easily with a lot of other people. That is good, as long as you recognize that there is no selection process for what is said. You can get lots of good, bad, and indifferent advice.
It seems to me that folks who have a little knowledge and a tendency to jump to erroneous conclusions also tend to get on the internet and voice their opinions. They also tend to wind up being officials in one capacity or another on internet forums. In politics this is to be expected, but when the subject is reloading, it can be dangerous.
The moderator of this forum, Walking Point, seems to know what he is talking about and is cautious about his advice. That is fortunate, and somewhat unusual.
Folks who use the internet for reloading advice should recognize that much of the advice they get will be bad. Sometimes, most of it will be bad. The reader needs to figure out who knows what he is talking about and who does not. That is not always easy.
Probably the best way for an inexperienced reloader to filter internet advice is to become familiar with several good reloading manuals and compare the advice in the manuals with the advice on the internet. When an individual on the internet seems to track pretty well with other reliable sources, his advice may be given some weight. Otherwise, it is best taken with a grain of salt.
In my experience, the 80/20 rule applies to most things in life. 20% of the people do 80% of the work, another 20% cause 80% of the problems, etc. On the internet, 20% of the correspondents are providing 80% of the good advice. You just have to figure out which 20%!
Reloading is a rewarding activity for those who pay attention to detail, and best avoided by those who do not.
Good shooting!
[This message has been edited by KLN (edited 08-18-2001).]
It seems to me that folks who have a little knowledge and a tendency to jump to erroneous conclusions also tend to get on the internet and voice their opinions. They also tend to wind up being officials in one capacity or another on internet forums. In politics this is to be expected, but when the subject is reloading, it can be dangerous.
The moderator of this forum, Walking Point, seems to know what he is talking about and is cautious about his advice. That is fortunate, and somewhat unusual.
Folks who use the internet for reloading advice should recognize that much of the advice they get will be bad. Sometimes, most of it will be bad. The reader needs to figure out who knows what he is talking about and who does not. That is not always easy.
Probably the best way for an inexperienced reloader to filter internet advice is to become familiar with several good reloading manuals and compare the advice in the manuals with the advice on the internet. When an individual on the internet seems to track pretty well with other reliable sources, his advice may be given some weight. Otherwise, it is best taken with a grain of salt.
In my experience, the 80/20 rule applies to most things in life. 20% of the people do 80% of the work, another 20% cause 80% of the problems, etc. On the internet, 20% of the correspondents are providing 80% of the good advice. You just have to figure out which 20%!
Reloading is a rewarding activity for those who pay attention to detail, and best avoided by those who do not.
Good shooting!
[This message has been edited by KLN (edited 08-18-2001).]
